


His Royal Highness Ravus Nox Fleuret's Bump Into Hello

by vanitaslaughing



Series: "If the next one's a flesh-eating ghoul again, I'll end the monarchy myself"—Cor Leonis, M.E.756 [4]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, vague hand wiggle.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 12:43:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18739282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanitaslaughing/pseuds/vanitaslaughing
Summary: It was kind of childish, but he flicked a spark against her forehead. She startled backwards with a confused sound, but Ravus grinned at her.“Trust me, okay?”“… Alright.”





	His Royal Highness Ravus Nox Fleuret's Bump Into Hello

**Author's Note:**

> are you ever just so sad all of a sudden that you write something really self-indulgent and are actually really embarrassed? yeah hi. thats this entire. thing.

Daughters of House Fleuret were called Flower Witches because they commanded a power so unlike anything else with a small waggle of their fingers. He always had had a feeling that his baby sister would be different than the other babies he’d seen throughout the year before she was born—but the moment ivy bloomed on his face when she was three and he was seven and his surprised scream had their parents rush into the room, he realised just how different she really was. Flower Witches, after all, were all meant to protect the country if it came down to it—or so their ancestor Corvus Mirus Fleuret had written in his diary. His own daughter had turned a blizzard around to drive mad creatures out of what would become the country Tenebrae, and he claimed that in that very moment he felt both the Breath of the Glacian and his long-departed sister Aera’s gentle hands guiding his daughter. Not a month later the hills had been awash in the flowers that had been trampled in the attack, and this he coined the term that ever since then applied to his bloodline.

Lunafreya had it under control by the time she turned eight. It was impressive, really. The entire flower field seemed to bend to her will, wilted and came back to life under her touch, trees bent their branches down to help her climb them or to bar an enemy’s path. Playing hide and seek with her always turned into a game of how long it would take him to find her—because unlike her, he commanded no such powers. He managed a spark, a glimmer.

Nothing more.

After all, sons of House Fleuret were meant to be protectors. The temperaments of siblings often matched; Lunafreya was boundless energy and rough edges, Ravus was quiet serenity and grace. Lunafreya was gentle when she needed to be, was calm and graceful whenever she was in public. But behind barred doors she ran through the flower fields laughing and bouncing, wildly chasing after the sun, turning and twirling. He loved her just as she was—as long as Lunafreya laughed, everything in the world was right.

It was around the time that her training was about to finish however that Ravus Nox Fleuret, now twelve-year-old firstborn of House Fleuret, bumped into a face in the manor that he hadn’t seen before. Quite literally bumped. She had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and the two of them fell to the floor.

“Oof. Eyes forward!”

“Sorry, so—“

There weren’t many children his age around. Most of them were teenagers—or around Luna’s age. This was the first time he was actually face to face with someone who didn’t look much older than him, and Ravus stared at her with wide eyes.

The girl on the other hand jumped back to her feet and then offered him a hand after seizing him up. She likely knew that the prince was that white-haired freak with the weird eyes and was trying to be polite, much like the younger kids and teenagers were.

“You good?”

“Uh.” He took her hand, and she yanked him up. “I think so?”

“Good, good. Sorry ‘bout that.” She beamed at him. “Say, you know your way around here? I got lost. Need to find the guest quarters again.”

Ah.

So she was one of the Niffs who had arrived here not too long ago, old family friends. From a region that housed the last remaining Temple of the Infernian; which the Oracle bloodline was supposed to go to for their pilgrimages. Lunafreya would eventually have to go there to complete her ascension to Oracle, and their parents were talking to the caretakers of the temples across Eos now rather than much later. Something about trespassing on holy grounds, something that went over Ravus’ head. He wasn’t an Oracle anyway.

“Sure. Guest quarters are over in the southern wing.”

“Oh.” The girl’s expression kind of dropped. “And where are we?”

“Northern wing,” he said calmly. “If you’d continued down those stairs, you’d have wound up in the flower fields.”

“Oh! Forget the guest quarters!” She grabbed his hands. “Show me the gardens!”

Was she mistaking him for a servant? Did she not understand what his clothing meant?

Ravus considered asking her if she knew who he was, but… this was the first time someone didn’t pretend to be friendly around him. So rather than do what a proper Prince of Tenebrae would have done, he squeezed her hands back and grinned at her. “Sure. C’mon, this way.”

* * *

Of course, their little vanishing act brought chaos to Fenestala Manor by the time the sun had set and they were fast asleep under a tree. The girl, Aranea, said that it was her first time out of Niflheim and she hadn’t even known why they were going. As it turned out, the last caretaker had died and passed the land around the temple on to her father, who the woman considered a son. She was just a commoner who hadn’t even known that he was the prince—she had immediately apologised profusely.

“If you start bowing to me now I’ll leave you out here.”

That had been all he said on that matter, and Aranea had started laughing.

“Oh, I’d have expected the fabled Ravus Nox Fleuret to be a gentleman!”

As it turned out, she was two years older than him, and rather mad about hitting puberty so late. She was short, stocky—still taller than him, mind—but incredibly mad about it. “Everyone’s so tall in Niflheim!”

Eventually they’d reached the edge of the forest, then sat down to catch their breath.

And then they had fallen asleep.

Ravus awoke to Aranea digging her hands into his arm and something strange brushing his cheek, and he realised a moment later that it was a branch of a tree. He, of course, was used to it—the Niff Aranea certainly wasn’t to a Flower Witch’s spell making the trees bend.

“Mum? No, wait. Luna?” His voice was still drunk on sleep, but the branches quivered slightly. Ravus drowsily rubbed his eyes and focused on the branch. It was moving in a pattern that was familiar, but it took him a long moment to understand what was going on. “Stay… stay here? Oh. _Oh._ Yeah, yeah we will.”

The the branch was gone, back up to where it belonged.

“What the hell was that?”

He closed his eyes again and leaned back against the tree. “Just my sister. ‘s her magic. Don’t worry about it.” Then he opened his eyes again when she didn’t relax, and instead leaned forwards again.

It was kind of childish, but he flicked a spark against her forehead. She startled backwards with a confused sound, but Ravus grinned at her.

“Trust me, okay?”

“… Alright.”

* * *

Of course someone had to play hard to get. Something about Lunafreya’s behaviour made them not agree to the negotiations; the Fleurets might have been an ancient house but they still were, in theory, trespassing on private and sacrosanct property. Ravus really didn’t mind that those negotiations took longer; it meant that Aranea’s departure was delayed. She was fun to be around.

She was brash where even Lunafreya hesitated, simply didn’t seem to care about general opinions about her, and was bold enough to march where she didn’t belong. Such as his quarters to drag him out in the middle of the night to sit in the flower field.

She definitely admired the little sparks he managed to conjure, said that even if he thought that it wasn’t much it was still more than some other people could do magic-wise.

Even their encounter with the normally cranky wood nymph went smooth because she was bold enough to tell the nymph that they hadn’t realised they had gone that far into the forest and that they were sorry and would be leaving immediately. Rather than waiting for a reply she simply turned around, grabbed Ravus’ arm and pulled him back away.

The fairies that normally danced around the flower field as far away from Fenestala Manor as possible also seemed unusually fond of her.

But, alas, after a month the negotiations came to an end. Lunafreya would be allowed to visit the six temples with her protector by her side when the time for her pilgrimage came. She and Prince Noctis definitely looked disappointed that they would have to part like that, but the prince promised her repeatedly that he would be taking her around the rest of Lucis one day.

Ravus almost wished he could have made such a heartfelt promise. But that would’ve been silly; Noctis was a literal child that still clung to his father’s legs and who couldn’t say Lunafreya’s name. Couldn’t read.

Aranea on the other hand smacked him on the back and handed him a piece of paper.

“Phone. I know you have that, but we can stay in contact that way.”

“Huh. I forgot about phones.”

“Yeah, that’s what happens when you deal with magic too much!” She laughed. “Take care, Ravus.”

“You too,” he said quietly. “Let’s meet again soon.”

* * *

[14:59] Rav: Sorry. Won’t make it.  
[15:00] Ara: Shit man, I heard on the news. My condolences.  
[15:00] Rav: Wasn’t much we could do, unfortunately.  
[15:04] Rav: At least his suffering wasn’t prolonged for eternity.  
[15:04] Ara: Mhm.  
[15:05] Ara: What a shitty way to celebrate your 16th birthday.  
[15:06] Rav: Could be worse.  
[15:06] Rav: Not a fan of parties at any rate.  
[15:07] Rav: Not a fan of funerals either, however.  
[15:09] Ara: Ravus?  
[15:09] Ara: If you need to talk after, call me, okay?  
[15:10] Ara: We might not be able to meet like we said we would, but I’m still here, y’know?  
[15:15] Rav: Thank you. I will.  
[15:16] Ara: Good. Keep your head up. Your dad wouldn’t have wanted you to grieve for him forever.

* * *

They met exactly once when Ravus was seventeen and she nineteen, after hours upon hours they spent talking to each other and texting each other. It was more of an accident than anything else, but after hearing that the dragoons were in town, Ravus all but took off in the worst disguise he could manage. White hair as it was normal for men of his bloodline was surprisingly hard to hide, especially doubled with the fact that once he hit puberty one of his eyes had started changing colour in a rather weird way—again, a typical development. Aranea called the sudden change charming; after all it made him look a lot more like a serious threat. Normally eyes like that were linked to seriously strong mages. Likely something that linked back into protector and Oracle dynamics, not that Ravus cared much about that.

Enough about him, he eventually said, and asked about her time so far.

She was just a trainee—but that was the first time he heard that she believed in the Draconian enough to follow his teachings.

She told him with a cheeky grin on her face that she remained a stout believer of humanity and magic rather than the gods, but she quite enjoyed being a dragoon outside of the religious stuff; and they had accepted her because she had talent. Sometimes a good fighter was better than a stout believer. And the dragoons had more than enough stout believers right now, but none of them as strong as her.

“Besides,” she added after she bought herself a coffee, “it’s not as if dragoons are as they were back then. We’re mostly around to help get rid of pesky menaces. Things that go out of control.”

They were only stopping over, but Ravus still thanked the gods that they made her land here of all places and not somewhere else.

“So when’s your sister start her pilgrimage? You’re still tagging along for that, right?”

He nodded. “When she turns 18.”

“Huh. That’s still 5 years, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Why do you ask?”

“Why, I wanna be home when you guys come to the Temple of the Infernian! In case you forgot, my parents take care of that.”

He wouldn’t forget, ever. After all that was the reason why they met.

* * *

[06:43] Ara: So you’re leaving for your little trip around the world?  
[06:43] Ara: When are you dropping by my old people’s temple, then?  
[06:45] Rav: Last, I’m afraid.  
[06:45] Rav: Hold on, I’ll send you the supposed schedule.  
[06:46] Rav: Changes applicable because of possibly sustained injuries, you know the drill.  
[06:50] Ara: Can you NOT sound like the dragoon manual first thing in the morning?  
[06:51] Rav: :D  
[06:51] Ara: >:/  
[06:52] Ara: Anyway, looking forward to seeing you again.  
[07:01] Rav: Gods, me too.

* * *

Luna raised an eyebrow at him and told him to stay behind.

“I can’t—“

“Go talk to Aranea. There’s nothing of danger here, and the Infernian’s wrath has long since subsided. The Temple of the Draconian was much more dangerous than this place.”

The Temple of the Draconian sat atop the Citadel in Lucis and housed the Crystal. The very Crystal that the First Oracle and the Founder King used to purge this star of the plague; the very reason why Corvus Mirus Fleuret’s descendants had the powers of the Oracle nowadays. Approaching that Crystal was dangerous, and 14-year-old Prince Noctis had definitely not been happy to let her in there. Said that something about the Crystal was kind of scary even though it did nothing.

The energy in that room had coiled together and lashed out for her at some point. Ravus had taken that blow and passed out—he had woken several days later in the royal hospital with one arm missing—and Luna perfectly fine and unharmed otherwise.

Their mother definitely had not been happy about this. The Crystal should not be lashing out like that, she murmured as they fitted Ravus a replacement arm. After the Temple of the Glacian in Tenebrae however they moved on to Niflheim proper.

And now Luna was telling him to scram, pretty much.

“You do know she can’t go into temples with you.”

“I’m not telling you to stay behind and taking Crowe with me. You’re both dismissed for an hour, but you don’t get to see Aranea much. Shoo.”

Luna’s other protector grinned at him like a shark.

Ravus scrammed, for a lack of better words. Aranea at least seemed delighted to have him here, and laughed when he told her how humiliating it was to get told to go in front of the Galahdian temple guardian who had tagged along because she was rather smitten with the future Oracle. Mostly because he really, really desperately wanted to go, and Luna was likely just seeing through him as she usually did.

“Man, you’re a weirdo.”

“You do know me so well, Aranea.”

“I’d hope so after all these years! Though the arm’s new.”

He had told her, of course. She only replied that the Draconian was a little bitch and she had almost feared something like that would happen.

“Something ‘bout the Fleurets and Lucis Caelums way back managing to save the planet really pissed the scaled bastard off. I admit I kinda slept through most of the lessons on that nonsense, but. Yeech. Still fucked up he actually lashed out.”

“As mother told it, he always attacks the Oracle-to-be. That is why she has a protector by her side; if she doesn’t have an older brother then there’s a trained soldier she trusts. None of them die, but most of them wind up mutilated. Apparently the selfsame thing happened to King Somnus and Oracle Aera when they turned the Crystal’s power against the plague.”

“But your arm—“

“Is a small loss compared to my head.”

“Fair. Still. Don’t have to like it.”

He reached over and flicked a spark against her forehead. “Same kind of deal you dragoons make, except I’m devoted to my sister’s pilgrimage until she finishes that.”

“Ugh. Royals and their shitty roadtrips. Skytrips in your case. Heard that Lucian royals travel the country, and I _think_ the ones chosen to rule the country here do the same.”

“Hey. At least once this is over, I’ll be free from any further training, so we might meet some more from here on out. Or, well, whenever you’re not on duty.”

She grinned at him.

* * *

Aranea Highwind wasn’t a Flower Witch. Still, for his 24th birthday she arrived like a summer gale—and Ravus realised that she was likely at least somewhat magically talented. She wouldn’t be like Luna, but before he even had a chance to mull it over, Aranea was the one flicking sparks against his forehead. A childish gesture, but something that they did without thinking much about it.

She also said that she had been kicked out. The leader had changed, and those who were anything less than what Aranea considered religious fanatics were given the boot.

“Can’t believe they booted Biggs and Wedge along with me! Those two actually believed and all that nonsense!”

Thus, she founded a group of mercenaries. Pest exterminators, she called it in jest—there was no war, and Aranea would refuse attacking another country no matter what. It was a small group of people, maybe 15; but Ravus still offered them a base of operations in Tenebrae. Much to his surprise, Aranea whipped out her phone and called her group, asked if Tenebrae was cool with them. They all agreed.

And all of a sudden, his friend from the other end of the continent was his friend who had her apartment just in the city on the next floating island. Cities in Tenebrae were built on these floating islands while the train line ran across the main land; and all of a sudden Aranea was just a few kilometres away instead of hundreds and thousands.

She also nearly immediately was scouted by the city’s witch for her powers.

There were plenty of mages and witches in Tenebrae; perhaps the most dense population of magically talented people in fact—Aranea still said that it was weird because there were precious little mages in Niflheim.

“Niflheim’s more full of the huge creatures you’d only find in Lucian backwater regions, y’know? Every second wolf pack has at least one Fenrir, whole bunch of yetis, I think the old Gralean Mine is home to an underground dragon by now. But like everything here in Tenebrae’s magical. The neighbours next door. Nymphs in the forests. You talk to fairies as if they’re friends. It’s great.”

* * *

[23:14] Ara: That’s all.  
[23:15] Rav: That’s strange?  
[23:15] Ara: IKR?  
[23:15] Ara: I’m SO mad!  
[23:16] Ara: Gonna hunt a fucking forest witch!  
[23:17] Rav: No, no. Please don’t. She’s nearly strong enough to match Luna.  
[23:17] Rav: I can come with you and negotiate, though.  
[23:17] Rav: Gonna use my princely ass for something good.  
[23:17] Ara: You’re my favourite princely ass though.  
[23:21] Rav: So, tomorrow, 11, Floating Island Esthol?  
[23:21] Ara: Deal.  
[23:22] Ara: I want that fucking booze back.  
[23:23] Rav: And get it back you shall.  
[23:23] Rav: If she won’t, I’ll just replace it.  
[23:24] Ara: Misusing government money, are you, Fleuret?  
[23:27] Rav: No. But I have a few favours left that I could cash in.  
[23:27] Rav: One such favour just happens to be with a brewer up in Ulwaat.

* * *

He wasn’t sure when on top of the undying friendship he had also fallen in love with her. But as time passed, Ravus became more and more aware of the fact that Aranea meant the world to him. Even Luna and Crowe pointed out how lovestruck he looked every time he came back from a meeting, and that the pining was getting ridiculous—but more than anything else, Ravus didn’t want to lose his best friend.

Crowe went as far as stabbing a finger into his chest when he turned 27 and Aranea had already gone back home.

“You’re a coward, Fleuret, and won’t survive the winter,” said the woman who had spent every winter in the last 5 years huddled up as some sort of blanket monster that waddled through the halls of Fenestala Manor.

The potted plants in the room all bent strangely as Luna giggled softly somewhere in the background, and Ravus narrowed his eyes at Crowe. This was something he could argue with her about, or he could ignore the plain provocation. As far as people were concerned, Crowe already was his sister-in-law and they bickered as such, even if neither her nor Luna ever voiced any interest in a wedding. Honestly, he considered her his sister-in-law as well, but whenever they butted heads it could get ugly. Right now being one of these situations.

“Look. Either you take a blind leap of faith, or you’ll die alone. Plain and simple. I took a leap of faith following you and your sister after you dropped by the temple, and look where it got me.”

“She’s got a point, brother dearest.”

He put his hand on his face. “Well, what do Your Highnesses propose I do in case I lose my best friend?”

“Curl up and die, clearly,” Crowe deadpanned. “Just make sure Luna gets the inheritance, since we’ll be losing the opportunity to run away and live in the mountains of Lucis somewhere together like some sort of cranky lesbian witches.”

“You’re both the worst.”

“We love you too, Ravus,” Luna chimed in. “But yeah. Just try it.”

* * *

As it turned out, he didn’t even have to try it.

Aranea was off-duty for the time being and immediately agreed to meeting him close to the forest where they met. The servants all knew her by now and allowed her in without issues, and Ravus waited. But before he could even do as much as greet her, she sprinted forwards and slammed him into the tree behind him; yanking him down by his collar. He almost wanted to ask what this was supposed to be, but staring into her eyes made his brain short-circuit.

She then also, without saying a word, slammed her lips against his.

“Your sister and her girlfriend are, and this is me putting it nicely, devils,” Aranea sighed after a few hours of them sitting underneath the same tree they had once fallen asleep under.

“Yeah, figured they would set us up like that.”

“They did have a point though. Like, assuming they gave you that same nonsense about leaps of faith. Dragoons take these all the time. Made me wonder why I hadn’t yet.”

He dropped his head onto her shoulder. “Scared of losing your best friend, were you? So was I.”

She flicked a spark against his forehead, and Ravus laughed softly when she proceeded to mess with his hair.

“Honestly, I’m fine with things continuing as they are. We don’t have to turn into mush that’s as disgustingly sweet as your sister and her girlfriend are.”

“Oh, thank the stars. I think I’d die from mortification before I even managed anything as sappy as what they do in their spare time.”

That wasn’t even an exaggeration, all things considered. Luna and Crowe were a special brand of horribly sappy and still very much in love; something that didn’t care about the public eye. Then again, it fit them. Luna and Crowe both were loud and proud of themselves—no matter how much Luna had mellowed out over the years, the streak of her that had boundless energy as she chased through the flower fields never once left her. Ravus remained the more reserved one, the one who started the path of the diplomat even if his sister would be taking the throne as all Oracles did.

Aranea sighed heavily. “Ravus? You’re an idiot.”

“Me, an idiot? You were the one who grabbed the prince of Tenebrae without a care in the world and demanded he show you the flower fields.”

“Hey! In my defence, I wasn’t aware until you told me your name.”

He broke into loud laughter and sat back up properly. Cupped her face with his hands and stared into her eyes. “Thank the gods you didn’t know. Had you bowed to me immediately, none of this would have happened.”

“Could’ve done without you losing an arm to a cranky old bastard I was supposed to worship while on the other end of the world, but other than that? Yeah. Wouldn’t wanna change a thing. How many people can say they met their best friend and the idiot they loved because they bumped into each other and then didn’t realise the idiot was also the Prince of Tenebrae?”

**Author's Note:**

> working title: "IF YOU CRASH IM KILLING YOU DIPSHIT"
> 
> total crashes had while working on this: 5


End file.
